Apparatus for manufacturing an injection needle

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for manufacturing an injection needle having a hub and a cannula whose back end terminates within the hub. The apparatus includes a first subassembly jig for mounting the hub, inserting a cannula into a center hole of the hub, and securing the hub and cannula together with an adhesive. A silicone-containing-liquid is applied to the back end of the hub-cannula assembly. A second subassembly jig is provided for mounting the hub-cannula assembly to remove excess silicone-containing-liquid within the cannula, covering the front end with a cap, and housing the hub-cannula-cap assembly with a container. An opening of the container is sealed after the hub-cannula-cap assembly is removed from the second subassembly jig.

This is a division, of application Ser. No. 07/735,972 filed Jul. 25,1991.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus formanufacturing a specific injection needle comprising a hub and acannula, in which the cannula has a front end projecting from the huband a back end terminating within the hub.

Conventional injection needles include, as one type, the specificinjection needle such as one called "insulin needle" available from novoNordisk A/S, which has a specific structure and configuration wherein acannula having a front end with a sharp bevel and a back end withanother sharp bevel inserts in a center hole of a hub in such a mannerthat the back end projecting inside the hub terminates within the hub(hereinafter, this type of injection needle is merely referred to asinjection needle).

The injection needle comprises the cannula and the hub. The cannula of ahub-cannula assembly is covered with a cap, and thereafter thehub-cannula-cap assembly is housed in a hermetically sealed containerfor subsequent further handling.

One example of the injection needle is illustrated in FIG. 2.

In the injection needle 1 of FIG. 2, a cannula 11 having a front end 13with a sharp bevel and a back end 14 with another sharp bevel inserts ina center hole of a hub 12 in such a manner that the back end 14projecting inside the hub 12 terminates within the hub 12.

The hub 12 of the injection needle 1 of FIG. 2 has a bonding area aroundthe center hole for bonding with the cannula 11. The bonding areaprojects from the rest part of the hub 12 to form a protrusion 12a. Theexposed part of the cannula 11 is to be covered by a cap 10 of anelongated cylindrical shape which has an open end 10a and asemi-spherical closed end 10b and is so designed that the open end 10acan be engaged with the protrusion 12a.

The injection needle 1 whose front end 13 has been thus covered with thecap 10 (hub-cannula-cap assembly) is then housed in a container 30having an opening at one end, and thereafter the opening of thecontainer 30 is sealed with a piece of sealing sheet 31 by means of, forexample, heat-sealing.

A process of manufacturing the injection needle 1 should include atleast the following work steps or the like:

(a) Adhering the cannula 11 to the hub 12.

(b) Applying silicone oil (hereinafter referred to simply as silicone)to the front end 13 and the back end 14 of the cannula 11 for thepurpose of reduction of penetration force.

(c) Covering the front end 13 with the cap 10.

(d) Housing the hub-cannula-cap assembly into the container 30.

(e) Sealing the opening of the container 30 with the sealing sheet 31.

Hitherto, those work steps are performed in a manufacturing line similarto a conventional one for an ordinary injection needle having no sharpbevel projecting inside the hub, with assistance of manual works asoccasion demands. However, there are drawbacks of undesirably low workefficiency and impediment to a laborsaving attempt.

The present invention was made in view of the drawbacks of theconventional method and apparatus for manufacturing the injectionneedle, and an object of the present invention is to provide a novelmethod and apparatus of manufacturing the injection needle in anefficient and laborsaving manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method ofmanufacturing an injection needle having a hub with a center hole and acannula inserting in the center hole, the cannula having a front endwith a sharp bevel and a back end with another sharp bevel, the back endterminating within the hub, comprising the steps of:

(a) mounting the hub on a first subassembly jig capable of supportingindividually the hub and the cannula in predetermined positions relativeto each other, with the front end of the cannula pointed upward;

(b) inserting the cannula into the center hole of the hub to a depthlimited by the first subassembly jig;

(c) applying an adhesive to a bonding area of the hub and the cannula;

(d) curing the adhesive in the bonding area to form a hub-cannulaassembly;

(e) dismounting the hub-cannula assembly from the first subassembly jig;

(f) applying silicone-containing-liquid to the back end of the cannulaof the hub-cannula assembly;

(g) mounting the hub-cannula assembly, whose back end has been coatedwith silicone-containing-liquid, on a second subassembly jig having ahollow cylindrical rest capable of supporting the hub-cannula assemblyby contacting only the hub, with the front end of the cannula pointedupward;

(h) removing excess amount of silicone-containing-liquid remainingwithin the cannula;

(i) applying silicone-containing-liquid to the front end of the cannulaof the hub-cannula assembly;

(j) covering the front end of the cannula with a cap of an elongatedcylindrical shape having an open end and a semi-spherical closed end toform a hub-cannula-cap assembly;

(k) housing the hub-cannula-cap assembly into a container having anopening at one end to form a hub-cannula-cap-container assembly;

(l) dismounting the hub-cannula-cap-container assembly from the secondsubassembly jig; and

(m) sealing the opening of the container of thehub-cannula-cap-container assembly.

In accordance with the present invention, there is also provided anapparatus of manufacturing an injection needle having a hub with acenter hole and a cannula inserting in the center hole, the cannulahaving a front end with a sharp bevel and a back end with another sharpbevel, the back end terminating within the hub, comprising:

(a) a first subassembly jig having a hub-supporting portion and acannula-supporting portion and being capable of supporting individuallyplural pairs of the hub and the cannula in one line in such a mannerthat the hub and the cannula are in predetermined positions relative toeach other, with the front end of the cannula pointed upward;

(b) a first conveyor line to transport intermittently the firstsubassembly jig;

(c) a second subassembly jig having plural hollow cylindrical restscapable of supporting plural pairs of the hub and the cannula in oneline by contacting only the hub bonded with the cannula, with the frontend of the cannula pointed upward;

(d) a second conveyor line to transport intermittently the secondsubassembly jig;

(e) a hub-supplying unit provided alongside the first conveyor line;

(g) a cannula-supplying unit provided alongside the first conveyor line;

(g) a hub-cannula-bonding unit, provided alongside the first conveyorline, for adhering the hub and the cannula which has been inserted inthe center hole of the hub to a predetermined depth with adhesive;

(h) an adhesive-curing unit, provided alongside the first conveyor line,for heating and drying the hub and the cannula which have been adheredtogether to form a hub-cannula assembly;

(i) a back-end-coating unit, provided between the first conveyor lineand the second conveyor line, for applying silicone-containing-liquid tothe back end of the cannula of the hub-cannula assembly;

(j) a handling unit for transferring the hub-cannula assembly bycontacting only the hub from the first subassembly jig on the firstconveyor line to the back-end-coating unit and further to the secondsubassembly jig on the second conveyor line;

(k) a back-end-blowing unit, provided alongside the second conveyorline, for supplying air from the front end into the cannula in whichsilicone-containing-liquid remains so as to blow the remaining liquidout of the back end;

(l) a jig-turn-over unit, provided alongside the second conveyor line,for shifting a direction of the second subassembly jig so as to allowthe front end of the cannula to point downward and subsequently upward;

(m) a front-end-coating unit, provided in combination with thejig-turn-over unit, for supplying air from the back end into the cannulaand concurrently applying silicone-containing-liquid to the front end ofthe cannula;

(n) a cap-supplying unit, provided alongside the second conveyor line,for supplying a cap of elongated cylindrical shape having an open endand a semi-spherical closed end to the front end of the cannula, whichhas been released from the jig-turn-over unit, mounted on the secondsubassembly jig in upward pointing attitude in such a manner that thecap is supplied downwardly from above with the open end pointed downwardso as to allow the cap to cover the front end of the cannula;

(o) a cap-pressing unit, provided alongside the second conveyor line,for pressing the cap covering the front end of the cannula against thehub to form a hub-cannula-cap assembly;

(p) a container-supplying unit, provided alongside the second conveyorline, for supplying a container having an opening at one end to thehub-cannula-cap assembly, in such a manner that the container issupplied downwardly from above with the opening faced downward so as toallow the container to house the hub-cannula-cap assembly;

(q) a container-pressing unit, provided alongside the second conveyorline, for pressing the container housing the hub-cannula-cap assemblyagainst the second subassembly jig;

(r) a container-sealing unit for sealing the opening of the containerhousing the hub-cannula-cap assembly with sealing sheet by means ofheat-sealing, and for stamping out a heat-sealed piece having apredetermined shape from the sealing sheet; and

(s) a container-transferring unit for dismounting the hub-cannula-capassembly from the second subassembly jig on the second conveyor line andfor delivering the hub-cannula-cap assembly to the container-sealingunit.

Thus, in the method and apparatus of the present invention, whole worksnecessary for manufacturing the injection needle is divided generallyinto two stages, namely a stage upto the completion of the hub-cannulaadhesion and a stage thereafter. On the basis of this conception, thepresent invention employ the arrangement wherein the first subassemblyjig and the second subassembly jig, which are respectively convenient tothe operations of the former stage and the latter stage, are movedrespectively along the first and second conveyor lines providedseparately from each other, and necessary operations are conducted to arow of plural injection needles (including those in a form of parts andin a form of uncompleted assemblies) in one lot.

The first subassembly jig has plural hub-supporting portions and pluralcannula-supporting portions and each pair of the hub-supporting portionand the cannula-supporting portion are so designed that thepredetermined inserting depth of the cannula is attained when the hub isput on the hub-supporting portion and the back end of the cannula abutsthe cannula-supporting portion. Accordingly, for example, no adjustmentis required for the inserting depth of the cannula in the adhering step,and the adhering can be carried out easily.

The second subassembly jig has plural hollow cylindrical rests, each ofwhich has internally a relatively large penetrated bore. Thisarrangement makes it easy to remove the remainingsilicone-containing-liquid from the cannula by blowing air through thecannula.

These subassembly jigs in combination with the afore-mentionedarrangement, wherein necessary operations are conducted while pluralinjection needles in a lot are intermittently moved along the conveyorlines separated into two stages, improve efficiency of not only anindividual work step but also overall process.

Further, the operation of each step is simplified, and this makesautomatization of the process to be easily designed and enableslabor-saving to be accomplished.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a layout of the apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example of the injection needleassembly;

FIG. 3 is a partially-cut-off perspective view showing a firstsubassembly jig;

FIG. 4 is a partially-cut-off perspective view showing a secondsubassembly jig;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of the hub-cannula-bondingunit;

FIG. 6 is a side view showing an example of the back-end-coating unitand an example of the handling unit;

FIG. 7 is a side view partially in section showing an example of theback-end-blowing unit;

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an example of the cap-supplying unit;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are block diagrams showing example steps of the method ofmanufacturing an injection needle in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of exampleonly, in conjunction with the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus for performing the steps, for example,shown in FIGS. 9 to 10. In the apparatus, a closed loop of a firstconveyor line 6 to convey a first subassembly jig and another closedloop of a second conveyor line 8 to convey a second subassembly jig arearranged side by side.

The first conveyor line 6 comprises:

first longitudinal passages 61 for the first subassembly jig to movetoward the row of the injection needles; first longitudinal drivers 62for the first subassembly jig to move forward intermittently along thefirst longitudinal passages 61;

first lateral passages 63 for the first subassembly jig to move in anearly perpendicular direction against the row of the injection needles;

first lateral drivers 64 for the first subassembly jig to move forwardintermittently along the first lateral passages 63;

a conveyor 65 to carry and transport a plurality of the firstsubassembly jigs; and

an auxiliary driver 66 to push the first subassembly jig toward theconveyor 65.

The second conveyor line 8 comprises: second longitudinal passages 81for the second subassembly jig to move toward the row of the injectionneedles;

second longitudinal drivers 82 for the second subassembly jig to moveforward intermittently along the second longitudinal passages 81;

second lateral passages 83 for the second subassembly jig to move in anearly perpendicular direction against the row of the injection needles;

and second lateral drivers 84 for the second subassembly jig to moveforward intermittently along the second lateral passages 83.

The operation units of the respective working steps are locatedalongside the first longitudinal passage 61 or the second longitudinalpassage 81. The first longitudinal passage 61 and the secondlongitudinal passage 81 functions as a guide channel.

The first lateral passage 63 and the second lateral passage 83 arerespectively located between the first longitudinal passages 61 andbetween the second longitudinal passages 81 mentioned above. The firstlateral passage 63 and the second lateral passage 83 functions as abuffer capable of absorbing the time-lag of the independent intermittentmovements of the subassembly jigs in steps between the firstlongitudinal passage 61 and the second longitudinal passage 81.Accordingly, as the first lateral passage 63 and the second lateralpassage 83, there may be employed for example a belt conveyor having alow-friction surface to allow the subassembly jigs to readily slide.

Alongside the first conveyor line 6, there are provided:

a hub-supplying unit 110;

a cannula-supplying unit 120;

a hub-cannula-bonding unit 130 for adhering a hub and a cannula insertedin the center of the hub to a predetermined depth; and

an adhesive-curing unit 140 for heating and drying the hub and thecannula, which have been adhered together, to form a hub-cannulaassembly.

Between the first conveyor line 6 and the second conveyor line 8, thereare provided:

a back-end-coating unit 150 for applying a liquid in which silicone oilis diluted with a volatile solution (referred to simply as asilicone-containing-liquid in this specification) to the back end of thecannula of the hub-cannula assembly; and

a handling unit 160 for transferring the hub-cannula assembly bycontacting only the hub from the first subassembly jig on the firstconveyor line to the back-end-coating unit and further to the secondsubassembly jig on the second conveyor line.

Alongside the second conveyor line 8, there are provided:

a back-end-blowing unit 170 for supplying air from the front end intothe cannula in which silicone-containing-liquid remains so as to blowthe remaining liquid out of the back end;

a jig-turn-over unit 180 for shifting a direction of the secondsubassembly jig so as to allow the front end of the cannula to pointdownward and subsequently upward;

a front-end-coating unit 190 provided in combination with thejig-turn-over unit 180 for supplying air from the back end into thecannula and concurrently applying silicone-containing-liquid to thefront end of the cannula;

a cap-supplying unit 200 for supplying a cap of elongated cylindricalshape having an open end and a semi-spherical closed end to the frontend of the cannula, which has been released from the jig-turn-over unit180, mounted on the second subassembly jig in upward pointing attitudein such a manner that the cap is supplied downwardly from above with theopen end pointed downward so as to allow the cap to cover the front endof the cannula;

a cap-pressing unit 220 for pressing the cap covering the front end ofthe cannula against the hub to form a hub-cannula-cap assembly;

a container-supplying unit 230 for supplying a container having anopening at one end to the hub-cannula-cap assembly, in such a mannerthat the container is supplied downwardly from above with the openingfaced downward so as to allow the container to house the hub-cannula-capassembly; and

a container-pressing unit 240, provided alongside the second conveyorline, for pressing the container housing the hub-cannula-cap assemblyagainst the second subassembly jig.

Further, near the second conveyor line 8, there is located acontainer-sealing unit 250 for covering, the opening of the containerhousing the hub-cannula-cap assembly with sealing sheet by means ofheat-sealing, and for stamping out a heat-sealed piece having apredetermined shape from the sealing sheet. Between the second conveyorline 8 and the container sealing unit 250, there is located acontainer-transferring unit 260 for dismounting the hub-cannula-capassembly from the second subassembly jig on the second conveyor line 8and for delivering the hub-cannula-cap assembly to the container sealingunit 250.

The hub-supplying unit 110 performs a step of mounting the hub on thefirst subassembly jig capable of supporting individually the hub and thecannula in predetermined positions relative to each other, with thefront end of the cannula pointed upward.

The cannula-supplying unit 120 performs a step of inserting the cannulainto the center hole of the hub to a depth limited by the firstsubassembly jig.

The hub-cannula-bonding unit 130 performs a step of applying an adhesiveto the bonding area of the hub and the cannula.

The adhesive-curing unit 140 performs a step of curing the adhesive inthe bonding area to form a hub-cannula assembly.

The back-end-coating unit 150 performs a step of applyingsilicone-containing-liquid to the back end of the cannula of thehub-cannula assembly.

The handling unit 160 performs a step of dismounting the hub-cannulaassembly from the first subassembly jig and mounting the assembly ontothe back-end-coating unit 150, and a step of mounting the hub-cannulaassembly, whose back end has been coated withsilicone-containing-liquid, on the second subassembly jig having ahollow cylindrical rest capable of supporting the hub-cannula assemblyby contacting only the hub, with the front end of the cannula pointedupward.

The back-end-blow unit 170 performs a step of removing excess amount ofsilicone-containing-liquid remaining within the cannula.

The jig-turn-over unit 180 and the front-end-coating unit 190 perform astep of applying silicone-containing-liquid to the front end of thecannula of the hub-cannula assembly.

The cap-supplying unit 200 and the cap-pressing unit 220 perform a stepof covering the front end of the cannula with a cap of an elongatedcylindrical shape having an open end and a semi-spherical closed end toform a hub-cannula-cap assembly.

The container-supplying unit 230 and the container-pressing unit 240perform a step of housing the hub-cannula-cap assembly in a containerhaving an opening at one end to form a hub-cannula-cap-containerassembly.

The container-sealing unit 250 performs a step of sealing the opening ofthe container of the hub-cannula-cap-container assembly.

The container-transferring unit 260 performs a step of dismounting thehub-cannula-cap-container assembly from the second subassembly jig andtransporting the assembly to the container-sealing unit 250.

Thus, the steps for example shown in FIGS. 9 to 10 are performed.

The first subassembly jig 5 is, as shown in FIG. 3, so designed that aplurality of injection needles 1 are mounted in a row, with the cannula11 being inserted into the center hole of the hub 12, and with the frontend pointed upward.

The number of the injection needles 1 mounted on one first subassemblyjig 5 is typically about 20 to 50. In order to make readilyunderstandable, some omissions and cuttings-away are used appropriatelyin FIG. 3.

As shown in section in FIG. 3, the first subassembly jig 5 has ahub-supporting portion 51, a cannula-supporting portion 52, and a fixingspring 53 which may be a ring-shaped spring. These components are sodesigned and arranged that the predetermined inserting depth of thecannula is equal to a depth when the hub 12 is put on the hub-supportingportion 51 and the back end (the lower end) of the cannula 11 abuts thecannula-supporting portion 52.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the second subassembly jig 7 isto support the hub 12 of the injection needle 1 with the front end ofthe cannula 11 pointed upward.

One second subassembly jig 7 can carry the same number of the specificinjection needles 1 as one first subassembly jig 5.

As shown in section in FIG. 4, the second subassembly jig 7 has ahub-supporting portion (a hollow cylindrical rest) 71 having internallya relatively large penetrated bore.

FIG. 5 illustrates a hub-cannula-bonding unit 130 comprising a chuckmechanism 131, an adhesive-applying subunit 132, and a cannula-rotatingsubunit 133.

The chuck mechanism 131 is used in combination with the firstlongitudinal passage 61 and the first longitudinal driver (not shown).The first longitudinal passage 61 allows the first subassembly jig 5 tomove in the longitudinal direction from the left hand side to the righthand side in the drawing, wherein the first subassembly jig 5 carrysplural injection needles in a row whose cannula is inserted through thecenter hole of the hub with the front end pointed upward. The firstlongitudinal driver causes the first subassembly jig 5 to move forwardintermittently along the first longitudinal passage 61. The chuckmechanism 131 is capable of holding or releasing simulataneously thecannulae of the plural injection needles carried by the firstsubassembly jig 5 and of moving in the up-down direction against to thefirst longitudinal passage 61.

The adhesive-applying subunit 132 is provided beside the firstlongitudinal passage 61 and allowed to move reciprocatively along thatpassage 61. The subunit 132 applys an adhesive to a portion of eachcannula lifted from the hub held by the chuck mechanism 131. Thecannula-rotating subunit 133 is located alongside the first longitudinalpassage 61 at the downstream of the chuck mechanism 131. The subunit 133is capable of holding simultaneously the cannulae of the pluralinjection needles carried by the first subassembly jig 5 and of rotatingthe cannulae by a predetermined angle against the hubs.

The first subassembly jig 5 carrying the injection needles is introducedone by one to the first longitudinal passage 61 from a buffer area (afirst lateral passage) provided close to the first longitudinal passage61, and delivered intermittently at predetermined intervals by atransport means (a first longitudinal driver) such as an actuatorlocated at the upstream of the first longitudinal passage 61.

In respect of the delivered injection needles, cannulas are pulled outby a fixed length relative to the hubs, and kept at the pulled outpositions.

The center hole of the hub has a bore slightly larger than the outerdiameter of the cannula with respect to the adhesive application. On theother hand, since the hub engages with a hub-supporting portion 51 ofthe first subassembly jig 5 (refer to FIG. 3), the hub is supported bythe hub-supporting portion 51 and is not pulled out together with thecannula when pulling out the cannula.

Then, the adhesive-applying subunit 132 moves along the firstlongitudinal passage 61 and applies adhesive on the outer surface of thepulled out cannula.

For example, the adhesive-applying subunit 132 is positioned at theupstream end of the chuck mechanism 131 and faces to the chuck mechanism131 across the first longitudinal passage 61 when the application ofadhesive to all injection needles on one first subassembly jig 5 iscompleted, that is, when the adhesive-applying step for injectionneedles on the succeeding first subassembly jig 5 is about to begin.

The adhesive-applying subunit 132 moves to a downstream position asshown in FIG. 5 when the succeeding first subassembly jig 5 is suppliedto the front of the chuck mechanism 131.

Then, the adhesive-applying subunit moves to an upstream position whileapplying adhesive to the plural cannulae in order, after the chuckmechanism 131 pulls out cannulae as stated above.

After application of adhesive is completed, the chuck mechanism 131capable of going up and down inserts each cannula into a predeterminedinserting position and releases the holding of cannulae.

A group of released injection needles put on the first subassembly jig 5are supplied to the cannula-rotating subunit 133 in order.

The cannula-rotating subunit 133 holds and turns the plural cannulae bymeans of chucking members 134, 135 which move along the firstlongitudinal passage 61 at the same speed in opposite directions to eachother. The chucking members 134, 135 are interlocked with each other byan interlocking gear. When one of the chucking members is driven by anactuator (not shown), the chucking members 134, 135 move at the samespeed in opposite directions to each other as described above.

The hub is engaged with the hub-supporting portion 51 of the firstsubassembly jig 5 as described above and cannot rotate within thehub-supporting portion 51. Therefore, the cannula rotates relative tothe hub when the cannula is held by the chucking members 134, 135 and isrotated.

Adhesive applied to the outer surface of the cannula is uniformlydistributed to the outer surface of the cannula by relative rotationbetween the cannula and the hub.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a step of silicone coating to a back end of acannula during an exchange of a subassembly jig. In FIG. 6, an injectionneedle 1 is transferred from a first subassembly jig 5 conveyed on afirst conveyor line 6 shown in the right portion of FIG. 6 to aback-end-coating unit 150 shown in the central portion of FIG. 6. Aftersilicone coating is carried out, the injection needle 1 is transferredto a second subassembly jig 7 on a second conveyor line 8 shown in theleft portion of FIG. 6.

The transference of the injection needle 1 is carried out by a handlingunit 160 which handles the injection needle 1 with only contacting a hubof the injection needle 1.

The back-end-coating unit 150 has a chamber ofsilicone-containing-liquid 152 for connecting a vertically rising pipe151 and a supplying portion of silicone-containing-liquid (not shown),and a connecting pipe 153. The unit 150 further has a vessel 154 forcollecting silicone-containing-liquid overflown from the top of therising pipe 151, and an outer tube 155 supporting a hub and surelypreventing adhesion or stain of silicone-containing-liquid to the hub.

In the back-end-coating unit 150, silicone-containing-liquid isoverflown at a constant rate of flow from an uppermost end or top openend of the rising pipe 151 having an inner diameter larger than an outerdiameter of the cannula 11 and having an outer diameter smaller than aninner diameter of the hub 12. Silicone is coated on the back end 14 ofthe injection needle 1 by dipping the back end 14 intosilicone-containing-liquid at the uppermost end of the rising pipe 151.

The above-mentioned dipping is carried out by the handling unit 160which handles the injection needle 1 with only contacting a hub 12 ofthe injection needle 1.

In the preferred embodiment, about 20 to 50 injection needles 1 arearranged in a row and handled, so that silicone coating to back ends 14is carried out at one time. In this case, there are provided risingpipes 15 whose number corresponds to that of arranged injection needles1.

Silicone-containing-liquid is supplied from a supplying portion ofsilicone-containing-liquid (not shown) to a lower portion of the risingpipe 151 at a constant rate of flow. As a supplying portion ofsilicone-containing-liquid, fixed delivery pumps such as plunger pumpsand diaphragm pumps can be used. However, usuable pumps are not limitedthereto in the present invention.

The supply of silicone-containing-liquid of 10 to 30 ml/min is enoughfor one rising pipe in the case of, for example, a rising pipe 151 ofwhich uppermost opening has an inner diameter of 4 mm and an outerdiameter of 5 mm (the intermediate portion of the rising pipe is thinnedto 3 mm). In general the supply amount of about 20 ml/min is employed.Flow velocity of this supply amount is 1.33 to 3.98 cm/sec on the basisof an inner diameter of the above rising pipe.

When the supply of silicone-containing-liquid is too small, renewal ofsilicone-containing-liquid becomes insufficient. On the other hand, whenit is too large, there is a danger that silicone-containing-liquidadheres to the inner surface of the hub on overflowingsilicone-containing-liquid.

When a large number of injection needles 1 are coated with silicone atone time as stated above, silicone-containing-liquid can be supplied,for example, to all rising pipes 151 from one supplying unit ofsilicone-containing-liquid.

Viscosity of the above-mentioned silicone-containing-liquid ispreferably from about 20 to 100 cP. When viscosity is too low, coatingof silicone becomes insufficient. On the other hand, when viscosity istoo high, coating of silicone becomes difficult and finally silicone inparticle condition adheres to the cannula.

In the back-end-coating unit 150, it is possible to recover overflownsilicone-containing-liquid while coating the back end 14 with siliconeoil and to recycle the recovered silicone-containing-liquid afteradjustment of composition, adjustment of viscosity removal of impuritiesand the like are carried out at need.

Silicone-containing-liquid is overflown with forming a certain adequateshape enabling the dipping of the back end 14 without contacting theinner surface of the hub. Accordingly, silicone is sufficiently coatedon the back end 14 with silicone-containing-liquid of which composition,viscosity and the like are always kept in an adequate condition andwhich does not contain impurities, so that shortage of silicone oradhesion of foreign matter is not caused. Further, adhesion ofsilicone-containing-liquid to the inner surface of the hub is certainlyavoided.

The injection needle 1, which is transferred from the back-end-coatingunit 150 to the second subassembly jig 7 by the handling unit 160, isconveyed along a second conveyor line 8 to a back-end-blowing unit 170shown in FIG. 7.

When the injection needle 1 is transferred to the second subassembly jig7 by the handling unit 160, removal of silicone-containing-liquidremaining within the back end might be carried out by theback-end-blowing unit 170.

As shown in FIG. 7, the back-end-blowing unit 170 comprises a gaschamber 171 having an opening 172 capable of closely contacting thefront side surface of the hub 12, a gas-supplying portion (not shown)for supplying compressed gas to the gas chamber 171, and a drain pipe174 put on the back end of the cannula 11 without contacting it. Theopening 172 has an inner diameter which is larger than the outerdiameter of the cannula 11 and smaller than the outer diameter of thehub 12. The drain pipe 174 has an inner diameter larger than the outerdiameter of the cannula 11 and an outer diameter smaller than the innerdiameter of the hub 12.

Around the opening 172 there is provided an abutting member 173comprising rubber-like elastic material, which is rich in flexibility tokeep airtightness, such as silicone rubber, urethane rubber and nitrilerubber.

Gas is introduced into the cannula 11 from the front end thereof usingthe above-mentioned back-end-blowing unit 170, andsilicone-containing-liquid remaining within the cannula 11 is blown outand discharged from the back end. As a gas used for blowing, dry andclear air can be used. A pressure of supplied gas is about 1 to 3 kg/cm²G.

FIG. 8 is a side view of an example of a cap supplying unit 200.

In FIG. 8, an injection needle is put on the second subassembly jig 7with pointing exposed cannula upward.

The cap-supplying unit 200 shown in FIG. 8 comprises

(a) an arranging subunit 201 having a guide groove 202 for supporting acap with coinciding a longitudinal direction of the cap with apredetermined direction, and a feeder 203 for moving a supported capalong the guide groove 202,

(b) a cap receiver 205 connected to a downstream end of the guide groove202,

(c) a cap-transferring subunit 206 for holding by suction a cap on thecap receiver 205 from above, and for transferring the cap in a directionof axis along a circular orbit 210 which gradually rises from ahorizontal condition,

(d) a hopper 214 positioned adjacent to the cap receiver 205 in thelongitudinal direction of the guide groove 202 and having inclinedsurfaces 215, 217,

(e) a limit bar 211 having a fixed end 212 and a free end 213 and havinga section smaller than a section of an opening of the cap, and beingpositioned above the hopper 214, a distance between the free end 213 andend of the hopper 214 on the side of the cap receiver 205 being designedto be shorter than a length of the cap, the free end 213 beingpositioned above the circular orbit 210, the fixed end 212 being sopositioned as to coincide with a tangential direction of the circularorbit 210 of the free end 213 and as to be above the free end 213, and

(f) a cap-turn-over subunit 218 positioned below the hopper 214 andhaving a cap-receiving recess 219, an attitude of the cap-turn-oversubunit being changeable between an attitude wherein an opening of thecap-receiving recess 219 points upward and an attitude wherein anopening of the cap-receiving recess 219 points downward.

The tilt angle of the limit bar 5 to a horizontal direction ispreferably form 20° to 40°, more preferably from 25° to 35°.

In the above-mentioned apparatus, a cap of which longitudinal directionis lined up is held by suction by the cap-transferring subunit 206 fromabove, and the limit bar 211 is moved along the circular orbit 210 inthe longitudinal direction of the cap.

The cap is transferred with its opening end at the head, and the freeend 213 of the limit bar 211 goes into the opening. Then, the capadvances obliquely and upward along the tangential direction by theguide of the limit bar 211. When the cap-transferring subunit 206 movesto a predetermined position, the cap is released from holding by thecap-transferring subunit 206 so that the cap departs from the subunit206. Next, the cap begins to descent obliquely and downward toward thefree end 213 of the limit bar 211, and falls into the hopper 214 with asemi-spherical closed end of the cap pointed downward.

On the other hand, with respect to a cap transferred with itssemi-spherical closed end at the head, the advancement of the cap isstopped since the free end 213 of the limit bar 211 contacts with thesemi-spherical closed end. Further, when the cap-transferring subunit206 moves to a predetermined position, the cap is released from theholding by the cap-transferring subunit 206 so that the cap departs fromthe subunit 206. At this time the back end of the cap does not come to aposition above the hopper 214 so that the cap falls into the hopper 214with a semi-spherical closed end of the cap pointed downward.

The cap, which passes through the hopper 214 with its semi-sphericalclosed end at the head, is received in the cap-receiving recess 219 ofthe cap-turn-over subunit 218. Thereafter, the cap is supplied on thecannula via, for example, a cap guide (not shown) and the like with itsopening end pointed downward by the turn-over of the cap turn-oversubunit 218.

In the above-mentioned apparatus there are carried out the steps of

(a) lining up a longitudinal direction of a cap,

(b) holding the cap by suction from above, transferring the cap in thelongitudial direction of the cap along a specific circular orbit 210rising gradually from a horizontal direction (the limit bar 211 ispositioned oblieqly and upward in the approximately tangential directionto the orbit), releasing the holding of the cap when thecap-transferring subunit 206 moves to a predetermined position and fallsthe cap with its semi-spherical closed end pointed downward, and

(c) changing an attitude of the cap which falls approximately verticallywith its opening end pointed downward.

In the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 2, about 20 to 50 caps are supplied tothe same number of exposed cannulae of injection needles.

The feeder 203 of the arranging subunit 201 is so designed as to beadjustable up and down, and is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 8. Acover 204 for covering the guide groove 202 is provided at thedownstream side (left side) of the feeder 203. Caps, which are suppliedat random to the upstream side (right side) of the feeder 203, arecompulsorily moved in the guide groove 202 toward the cap-receivingportion 205. The longitudinal directions of caps are coincided withmovement direction during movement of the caps. Further, when thelongitudical directions of caps do not coincide with movement directionof caps, caps are moved in the guide groove 202 repeatedly till theycoincide with movement direction of caps.

The cap-transferring subunit 206 for holding caps by suction from above,which have reached the cap-receiving portion 205, has a holding portion207 for holding caps by suction in grooves by the use of negativepressure, and a vacuum port 208 for maintaining the inside of theholding portion 207 at negative pressure. The cap-transferring subunit206 rotates about the shaft 209. Accordingly, caps held by the holdingportion 207 are transferred along the circular orbit 210 in thelongitudinal direction of caps.

The vacuum port 208 is so designed that positive pressure is given tothe vacuum port 208 by a signal from outside and releases the cap fromthe holding portion 207. By employing such constitution, it is avoidedthat a cap is supplied on an empty subassembly jig from which aninjection needle is removed by inspection from a manufacturing line in aformer step, specificly when caps are supplied to plural injectionneedles simultaneously.

It is possible to employ a constitution wherein a cap-receiving portion205 is omitted, the guide groove 202 of the arranging subunit 201 isextended to the hopper 214, and another cap-transferring subunit isprovided in the midway of the extended guide groove, whereby caps areintermittently fed by a predetermined distance in their longitudinaldirections.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the limit bar 211 is so positionedthat center of gravity of a cap whose head is at a free end of the limitbar 211 is situated above the hopper 214. In the apparatus, on the otherhand, wherein caps moves in the guide groove 202, the limit bar 211 isso positioned that center of gravity of a cap whose head is at a freeend of the limit bar 211 is situated on the guide groove 202 (near theend of the guide groove).

The hopper 214, into which caps fall with their semi-spherical closedends pointed downward by the function of the limit bar 211, has a firstslope 215 and a second slope 217. The passage of caps has a rectangularsection.

Though the first slope 215 may be a vertical surface, the first slope215 preferably has sufficient area to allow a cap to rotate about an endof the cap and is formed in such shape that enables introduction of capsto the turn-over subunit 218.

Further, in the example shown in FIG. 8, the second slope 217 is maderotatable about the shaft 216 at least clockwise, that is, the secondslope 217 is capable of opening and closing. The second slope 217 is sodesigned as to open and close before receiving the next cap, and so itis possible to discharge a cap which cannot pass through smoothly andremains within the hopper, and to supply the next cap smoothly.

The cap-turn-over subunit 218 has also a function to control timing forsupplying caps to injection needles.

In the cap-supplying unit 200, it is possible, instead of the limit bar211 and hopper 214, to employ a selective turn-over subunit which has areceiving recess with a central bar, and receives only caps suppliedwith their opening ends at the head and then turns over the caps. Inthis case, caps from the arranging subunit 201 are introduced to theselective turn-over subunit, and then supplied to the cap turn-oversubunit 218 after all caps are lined up with their semi-spherical closedends at the head.

Caps are put on front ends of injection needles pointing upward in themanner as stated above. Attachment of caps to the injection needles(hub-cannula assemblies) is finished by pushing semi-spherical closedends of caps positioned at the top towards hubs by means of, forexample, another pushing means.

With respect to a hub-supplying unit 110, a cannula-supplying unit 120,an adhesive-curing unit 140, a jig-turn-over unit 180, afront-end-coating unit 190, a cap-pressing unit 220, acontainer-supplying unit 230, a container-pressing unit 240, acontainer-sealing unit 250 and a container-transferring unit 260, it ispossible to employ such apparatus that have been used for manufacturinggeneral injection needles.

As described above, according to the present invention, there areprovided a method and an apparatus enabling efficient production andreduction of labor when manufacturing injection needles having back endswhich terminate within hubs.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for manufacturing an injectionneedle having a hub with a center hole and a cannula inserted in thecenter hole, the cannula having a front end with a sharp bevel and aback end with another sharp bevel, the back end terminating within thehub, comprising:(a) a first subassembly jig having a hub-supportingportion and a cannula-supporting portion and being capable of supportingindividually plural pairs of the hub and the cannula in one line in sucha manner that the hub and the cannula are in predetermined positionsrelative to each other, with the front end of the cannula pointedupward; (b) a first conveyor line to transport intermittently the firstsubassembly jig; (c) a second subassembly jig having plural hollowcylindrical rests capable of supporting plural pairs of the hub and thecannula in one line by contacting only the hub bonded with the cannula,with the front end of the cannula pointed upward; (d) a second conveyorline to transport intermittently the second subassembly jig; (e) ahub-supplying unit provided alongside the first conveyor line; (f) acannula-supplying unit provided alongside the first conveyor line; (g) ahub-cannula-bonding unit, provided alongside the first conveyor line,for adhering the hub and the cannula which has been inserted in thecenter hole of the hub to a predetermined depth with adhesive; (h) anadhesive-curing unit, provided alongside the first conveyor line, forheating and drying the hub and the cannula, which have been adheredtogether, to form a hub-cannula assembly; (i) a back-end-coating unit,provided between the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line,for applying silicone-containing-liquid to the back end of the cannulaof the hub-cannula assembly; (j) a handling unit for transferring thehub-cannula assembly by contacting only the hub from the firstsubassembly jig on the first conveyor line to the back-end-coating unitand further to the second subassembly jig on the second conveyor line;(k) a back-end-blowing unit, provided alongside the second conveyorline, for supplying air from the front end into the cannula in whichsilicone-containing-liquid remains so as to blow the remaining liquidout of the back end; (l) a jig-turn-over unit, provided alongside thesecond conveyor line, for shifting a direction of the second subassemblyjig so as to allow the front end of the cannula to point downward andsubsequently upward; (m) a front-end-coating unit, provided incombination with the jig-turn-over unit, for supplying air from the backend into the cannula and concurrently applyingsilicone-containing-liquid to the front end of the cannula; (n) acap-supplying unit, provided alongside the second conveyor line, forsupplying a cap of elongated cylindrical shape having an open end and asemi-spherical closed end to the front end of the cannula, which hasbeen released from the jig-turn-over unit, mounted on the secondsubassembly jig in upward pointing attitude in such a manner that thecap is supplied downwardly from above with the open end pointed downwardso as to allow the cap to cover the front end of the cannula; (o) acap-pressing unit, provided alongside the second conveyor line, forpressing the cap covering the front end of the cannula against the hubto form a hub-cannula-cap assembly; (p) a container-supplying unit,provided alongside the second conveyor line, for supplying a containerhaving an opening at one end to the hub-cannula-cap assembly, in such amanner that the container is supplied downwardly from above with theopening faced downward so as to allow the container to house thehub-cannula-cap assembly; (q) a container-pressing unit, providedalongside the second conveyor line, for pressing the container enclosingthe hub-cannula-cap assembly against the second subassembly jig; (r) acontainer-sealing unit for covering the opening of the container housingthe hub-cannula-cap assembly with a sealing sheet by means ofheat-sealing, and for stamping out a heat-sealed piece having apredetermined shape from the sealing sheet; and (s) acontainer-transferring unit for dismounting the hub-cannula-cap assemblyfrom the second subassembly jig on the second conveyor line and fordelivering the hub-cannula-cap assembly to the container sealing unit.2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the back-end-coating unitcomprises:a vertically rising pipe having an inside diameter larger thanan outside diameter of the cannula and an outside diameter smaller thanan inside diameter of the hub, and having a top open end formed inplane; and a silicone-containing-liquid supply connected to a lowerportion of the rising pipe for supplying silicone-containing-liquid at aconstant rate of flow.